The England coach believes the versatile teenager is the man for the job.

Capello said: "I spoke with Sir Alex and Jones was in my mind when I met him in Manchester. He said he could play there. You know, last year he played in midfield."

As it was pointed out, though, Fergie is Scottish.

Surely he wasn't trying to stitch up Capello, was he?

Capello laughed: "This is good. I know he's Scottish because, during the party, he wore a kilt. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I understood exactly that he is Scottish.

"I want to try this, though. This is perfect. We haven't a lot of young players who can play as midfielders "He can play right-back, centre-back, he can play, for me, as a midfielder because he's a really fantastic player. He's got a lot of really good qualities. His potential is the top."

Capello even thinks Jones can be better than Italian legend Franco Baresi.

He said: "Baresi was really good as a defender. But, as a midfielder, he was so-so.